Colo. Senate OKs civil unions

The Colorado Senate today, March 25, passed civil union legislation.

The bill, which would provide benefits similar to marriage to same-sex couples living in the state, now must be passed by the GOP-led House to become law.

The legislation passed with a Senate vote of 23 - 12.

"Civil unions will allow same-sex couples to equally participate in the protections and responsibilities available to other families in Colorado," Senator Pat Steadman, a Democrat and the bill's sponsor, told Reuters after the vote.

Many of the benefits and responsibilities that come with legalized civil unions, however, are already offered to same-sex couples under existing Colorado law -- including the right of same-sex partners to be involved in medical decisions, and the right to survivors' benefits. Conservative activists have latched onto the overlap and are claiming that the true aim of the legislation's supporters is to redefine the meaning of traditional marriage.

"That they're now lobbying for a bill that's redundant in existing law demonstrates that SB 172 is more about redefining marriage than hospital visitation and property ownership," Carrie Gordon Earll, senior director of issue analysis at CitizenLink, told Charisma, a Christian faith-based news website. "Civil unions are marriage under another name. Marriage should be protected for what it gives to children -- their best chance at a married mom and dad."